Pink Floyd Music:

		List Price: $17.98		Label: Capitol Salesrank: 4838 Released: August 6, 1996
		Our Price: $8.58
		Used Price: $6.24
		Media: Audio CD

Relics Track Listing:
1. Arnold Layne
2. Interstellar Overdrive
3. See Emily Play
4. Remember a Day
5. Paintbox
6. Julia Dream
7. Careful with That Axe, Eugene
8. Cirrus Minor
9. Nile Song
10. Biding My Time
11. Bike

Editorial Review:
Original Release Date: May 1971 Track Listing: 1. Arnold Layne 2. Intersteller Overdrive 3. See Emily Play 4. Remember A Day 5. Paintbox 6. Julia Dream 7. Careful With That Axe, Eugene 8. Cirrus Minor 9. The Nile Song 10. Biding My Time 11. Bike

Description of Relics:
This compilation and "greatest hits" package has the odd distinction of being released well before the band hit its stadium-filling prime in the mid-to-late '70s. This album essentially bridges the considerable gap between original leader Syd Barrett's baroque psychedelic pop-single bent (exemplified here by the band's first chart hit "See Emily Play" and the cross-dressing mini-epic "Arnold Layne," both stellar singles left off the band's debut album) and the more ponderous musical pretensions of Roger Waters, the band's de facto leader after mental illness sidelined Barrett early on. It's a good introduction to the band's foundations for Floyd novices, and the inclusion of the early singles and two early outtakes ("Julia Dream" and "Biding My Time") make it a must for aficionados. --Jerry McCulley

Relics Reviews:
A Bizarre Collection of Antiques and Curios
2009-12-05 - Released in 1971, this album isn't so much of a 'greatest hits' as it is a collection of interesting classic songs and singles that were being re-released just as Pink Floyd was entering its most productive and memorable years. "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play" were two early and successful Pink Floyd singles from 1967 written by the band's founder and leader at the time, Sid Barrett. "Interstellar Overdrive" was one of their early psychedelic instrumentals also from 1967. "Remember a Day" is a Richard Wright song about childhood that was originally released on the album "A Saucerful of Secrets", while "Paintbox" is another piece written by Wright during the same period. "Julia Dream" is a haunting yet beautiful song by Roger Waters that foreshadows the song writing skills that would make him legendary in future years. "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" is another classic instrumental, but this one is from David Gilmour's early time with the band after Barrett had left. "Cirrus Minor" and "The Nile Song" are from Pink Floyd's third album, "More", which is the soundtrack to a movie of the same title. "The Nile Song" rocks harder than most Pink Floyd music from that time. "Biding My Time" is an interesting one from Roger Waters, complete with a horn section to round out the sound. "Bike" is an odd one written by Sid back in 1967. Very quirky and psychedelic. All of the songs can bring you back to the long-gone, carefree days of the British psychedelic scene of late 60s, even if you weren't there in the first place. This disc rounds out any Pink Floyd collection by giving you a sampling of some of their best work from the early years.


Relics
2009-11-22 - Cover art threw me at first. Not the same as my old lp version, but the same great songs.Forgot how much I enjoyed Arnold Layne and Julias Dream. A great slice of the late 60s.

PinkFloyd and drug use
2009-10-05 - The first few Pink Floyd albums may require some drug use to feel the grove the early 70s. But it is Pink Floyd. All of Roger Waters music requires drug use. Friends of mine believe this is not a bad thing. I say good music, good art ,or a good looking women should be good if I'm in a altered state or not. So, if you wakeup with an ugly girl . I'll question your musical taste.

Oldies Tunes
2009-04-15 - One of Pink Floyds best. Sit listen and dream away. You can't go wrong w/ this one.

That rare collection of b-sides and singles that's as strong as an original album
2009-04-05 - Although any song on this album can be found on others (except Biding My Time) this anthology has a nice musical unity to it. I've never been much of a fan of Arnold Layne (I think Syd Barrett made his best work as a solo artist) but it starts the album off on a mellow tone that is abruptly broken by the first few discordant notes of Interstellar Overdrive. I usually skip the first four songs because I have them on other CD's, but they have a nice pattern of a small, consistant single (Arnold Layne), something experimental (Overdrive) single (See Emily Play) experiemental (Remember A Day). Remember A Day is great, but I think it shines better in it's own element (A Saucerful of Secrets).

The first relatively unique song on the album is Paintbox. The accoustic guitar, which alternates between loud and soft, really compliments the consistently mellow piano and singing. Part of what made this band so great is that four out of the five members were musicians with their own individual styles and artistic aspirations. Too bad Rick only contributed significantly to the early albums.
The next song, Julia Dream, should have been a single. Everything about this song is optimal single material. It's short, catchy, and it's an accessable love song, and more than one dimension is being conveyed in a short amount of time. Not many Pink Floyd songs are known for using brevity to their advantage (another notable exception would be Jugband Blues). Roger's voice sounds either hesitant or meditative and the lyrics take a few odd turns. The oddest possibly being the last verse: "will the misty master break me \ will the key unlock my mind \ will the following footsteps catch me \ am I really dying". To say nothing of the incongruity with the rest of the song, the line "am I really dying" seems to have been recycled for the song Mother, a song about mother-son emotional abuse. To make things even more mysterious, the song seems to end on a decisively positive note with Roger repeating the words "Julia Dream \ Dream-boat queen \ queen of all my dreams".

This segues nicely into a studio version of Careful With That Axe Eugene. When I first heard this, my first thought was "what happened to the crazy guitar action from the Ummmagumma live album?" but this mellow version totally works. The quietness of the whole thing makes Roger's woman-like shriek even more eerie and the guitar work that wraps up the song sounds desperate and persistent, yet delicate.
The decision of the band to insert Cirrus Minor at this point gives the impression of dazed reeling, as if in reaction to the last song. What's funny is that Cirrus Minor and Nile Song sound better in the context of this collection than they do in the context of the More soundtrack.

In some ways, this album sounds like a more mature and dynamic companion piece to Piper At The Gates of Dawn. You see more of the band rather than a specific leader, and almost every song is brief with multiple dimensions. Maybe I'm a profane moron, but I kind of think this is better than Piper.